The Ever-Changing Path of Life
by ShadowSoul741
Summary: Kakashi has seemingly returned from the grave. With his memories of his past, their future, he has decided that he will save everyone from their fate he remembers, but here he didn't fail Obito, he saved Rin, he didn't fail, his memories don't fit with the place he is in. Can he still save everyone?
1. The Chunin Exams

**A/N:** So I'm a huge KakaRin fan, I don't hate Obito, I just think Kakashi deserves hapiness after all he's been through. It makes sense to me at least. I've looked and there aren't many KakaRin stories so I thought I would contribute.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, if I did KakaRin would have happened

Rin was scared, after her failed attempt at one of the forbidden jutsu she just didn't know what to do. She didn't know what came over her. After seeing Obito's team and the similarities to her old team she just had to try to bring Kakashi back.

He had died protecting her after the three-tails was sealed inside of her. She begged him not to, but Kakashi had made a promise, a promise to Obito. His lightning blade cut through most of the enemy ninja, but there were too many. When they cut Kakashi down a dark figure appeared and killed the remaining ninja, the figure turned out to be Obito. Crushed by Kakashi's death, Rin was never really the same, just like when they thought Obito died.

Eventually they moved on. Obito was back and Anko was overjoyed, but Rin, she started to toughen up, getting stronger while also improving her medical ninjutsu. Obito always heard her when they visited Kakashi's grave with Minato-Sensei, "If only I was stronger, I could have saved him".

Eventually Obito and Minato got her to open up again. She quickly became attached to the genin on Obito's team. One day though, after one of his many dates with Anko, Obito went to find Rin and tell her about how things were going. He knew something was wrong after his team told him that she broke down earlier in the day. He didn't find her at Kakashi's grave which was the only place he thought she would go.

When he found her with the scroll of forbidden Jutsu earlier in the Chunin exams he knew exactly what she was trying to do. Her tears were enough for him to realize it didn't work. Obito finally got through to her again. He realized that his team's antics caused her breakdown. He did the only thing he could think of, "Kakashi will always be the greatest shinobi in my eyes not because of his genius or his strength, but because he kept his promise when I would have been too late."

Rin cried even after Minato-Sensei arrived. "Come on, Rin, Obito, we should go talk to him," Minato suggested.

They walked in silence to the grave. Rin fell to her knees before the grave and started crying again. "She's been ok for years now, what broke her to make her go this far?" Minato asked Obito.

"It was my team, unfortunately, they are very similar to the old team 7," Obito began, "Apparently one of the sound ninja approached her, said something to her, and she collapsed on the spot". Obito was starting to get angry, which wasn't a good sign for the remainder of team Minato. One of his former student in tears the other ready to hurt the shinobi that hurt her.

 _Just like old times_ , Minato thought to himself. It pained him to know that something from the old days would never come back. Tomorrow was the last part of the Chunin exams, he needed his team at full strength.

"Rin," the kunoichi looked up to her former sensei from her spot on the ground, "He wouldn't want you to worry about him this much, we have a big day tomorrow and Kakashi would want you to be ready for it".

"Yes Minato-Sensei," she replied with tears still falling. With that they returned to prepare for the Chunin exams.

Rin didn't know what to do. The Chunin exams were happening and then the sand ninja that had been fighting Sasuke transformed into the Shukaku. Orochimaru had appeared and started fighting the fourth and third Hokages. They were trapped in a barrier and Rin and Obito couldn't do anything about it. The monstrous Shukaku was trampling everything in its path.

"Rin!" Obito shouted over the commotion going on in the village, "You have to use the power of the three-tails! It's the only way to fight it."

"You know I can't control it Obito, there's no way that I could do it without hurting more people," Rin pleaded.

"Kushina isn't here so we can't use the power of the nine-tails, it's the only way," Obito told her. He was completely serious, he saw no other way out.

Suddenly a giant toad appeared to fight the beast. It was Naruto, though, they weren't really too surprised. The battle was epic, but in the end Naruto hit the boy to wake him and defeat Shukaku. It worked as the Shukaku slowly started to fall apart.

Seemingly out of nowhere a genjutsu was activated putting the boy immediately back to sleep. Shukaku started reforming knocking the giant toad away. Naruto was out of strength and collapsed, the toad stayed to defend the boy.

"Rin, it's our only option." Obito repeated.

"Fine, but if I lose control," Rin paused to take a deep breath, "I want you to stop me by any means, promise me?"

It took Obito a minute before he answered with a slow and sorrowful, "I promise."

As Rin started to weave the hand signs that Minato had shown her to release the three-tails chakra, she turned to Obito, "One more thing, just tie the knot with Anko, you've waited long enough already." Obito started to turn a little red at Rin's remark before returning to his previous serious demeanor, ready to attack the remaining enemies head on with his one sharingan.

Before either of them could finish what they were doing something akin to a lightning bolt shot up from the ground in front of Shukaku. When the light faded everyone was just as stunned as when Shukaku appeared. In the lightning's place was a giant man made of lightning and fire. It had wings and wore battle garb. Instead of a face the thing had a mask with a slash going over its left eye. The being drew one of its swords and charged at Shukaku. The sword sliced off Shukaku's left arm entirely, but the sand started to quickly reform. Without missing a beat the being kept up its attack hacking and slashing with its sword, chopping off piece after piece of Shukaku but not fast enough to stop it from reforming.

The Shukaku then launched its assault, but the lightning being dodged and blocked every strike. In one quick slash, the devastating counter attack from the being cut off the beast's arm and suddenly reality warped, swirling inward, and the arm completely disappeared. Shukaku roared, firing air bullets at the lightning giant. The giant easily cut through all of them.

The giant stuck out its right hand and an unforgettable sound cut through the air as chakra flared around the giant's right hand. The sound of thousands of birds chirping ripped through the ears of everyone in the village. With blinding speed the giant's hand shot through the beasts head. The form of the Shukaku slowly melted away from around the giant's arm.

The giant crouched down and swiped its hand to the spot behind the toad and through the forest. Opening its wings the being flew back to the arena in the village where Rin and Obito were. It landed and gently released from its grasp Naruto, Sakura, and the sand ninja, including the boy that became the Shukaku, onto the ground.

Obito was impressed that after the whole fight that the giant had managed not to kill its opponent even if it was a beast with near unstoppable power. Rin looked up at the blue lightning giant in amazement. They both tensed as the giant turned its red glowing eyes on them.

Guy, Kurenai, Anko, and Asuma had appeared in the arena as well and only stared up at the towering giant. They were prepared for the worst, even though they were almost positive that even with all of them they probably couldn't bring the giant down. A kunai shot down implanting itself in the ground between the Jonin. In a flash Minato teleported down from where his fight with Orochimaru had taken place. Holding his kunai at the ready he stared down the giant, but unlike the others there his gaze held a confidence and a resolve that only a Hokage could have.

"This is a sad day for the Hidden Leaf, but it's still not over," Minato spoke to the Jonin behind him, "When I give the signal Asuma and Kurenai will attack its legs, Guy will try to stop it from drawing its sword, Obito, Anko, go for its arms, try to keep it on the defensive, Rin try to keep it away from the village and the genin over there and heal anyone here when possible, I will go for the strange glow in its forehead."

"Right," they all answered.

Before they could do anything the being started to dissipate into thin air, slowly fading into nothing. What remained was a man wearing a Jonin uniform. He had a headband with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf on it, and he wore a mask that covered his nose and mouth. He had a scar over his left eye and his silver, spiky hair blowed in the wind.

The man opened his eyes revealing two sharingan staring at them. Everyone in the group tensed at the sight of him. His red eyes switched between all of them before landing on Obito, Minato, and Rin. Upon seeing them the man took a menacing step forward. Everyone was ready to attack with the slightest movement from the strange shinobi.

"Why?" the man growled. His sharingan swirled and took a strange shape as reality warped again and a kunai that Minato threw at the man disappeared into nothingness, startling all of them, even if they didn't show it. Blood started to fall from his eyes, almost forming tears, showing the strain that the man had put on his body. "Why? Minato, Obito, Rin," the words were low, filled with sadness and rage at the same time, as the shinobi took an offensive stance.

Before anyone could ask how the mysterious shinobi knew them, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. "So," Obito began, the first one to break free of his astonishment, "What should we do with him, Minato-Sensei?"

"He did save the village," the Hokage reasoned, "take him to the hospital, once he wakes up we'll get to the bottom of this, until then I don't want anyone saying a word of this to anyone outside of this group without my permission," he ordered. "We will reconvene once he wakes up, dismissed."

With that the shinobi parted to help with the clean-up of the village, taking out the last of the sound and sand ninja. Minato picked up Naruto to take him home while ordering other shinobi to notify Sakura's parents about what happened and remove the sand genin from the arena.

As she was running through the village taking down enemy shinobi and healing any wounded she found, Rin had a though nagging at the back of her mind: the shinobi who saved the village reminded her of someone.

 **A/N: Remember, constructive criticism is appreciated and hate will be ignored.**

Also I have six other chapters pre-written and I am not short on ideas for where to take the story, but don't worry, I'm still trying to improve my writing so I will be listening to my readers.


	2. The Village Hero

**A/N:** Here is chapter 2, just so you know Pow haha, yes, this os cannon Kakashi and he will be covering one eye still so that people will still think he only has one sharingan, and lollikawai i really appreciate the encouragement.

"People speaking"

 _People thinking_

o-(=-- Is a scene change (Supposed to look like one of Minato's kunai, also it wouldn't let me use a greater than sign for the point in the upload so that kinda sucks, get it together fanfiction!)

Disclaimer: Naruto ain't mine, cause if it was it probably wouldn't be the sensation it is today.

[On with the show]

Early the next morning Minato-Sensei notified Rin and the other Jonin that witnessed the mystery shinobi to go to the hospital to see the shinobi. They arrived to find Minato talking to a nurse that was at the room that held the "village hero".

Obito spoke first, "Minato-Sensei what happened, where is the guy from yesterday?"

"According to the staff, the man took his personal effects and left through the window," this seemed to trouble Minato, "Guy, take Obito and Anko, search the residential areas, Asuma, Kurenai, take the arena we found him at, Rin, you're with me, we will check at the Hokage estate." With a chorus of yes sir and on it, the shinobi disappeared to check their designated locations.

o-(=--

Naruto was tired, but not tired enough to stop him from jumping across the roofs of the village to get to his destination. He was going to go surprise his dad with the lunch his mom had packed for them, his mom said she would meet him there. He reached the roof of the Hokage estate, but when he got there he wasn't alone. A man stood there with silver hair and his head band pulled down over his left eye, the other one was a dark color, and he wore a mask over his nose and mouth.

"Um, excuse me mist-"

"You're Naruto, right?" the man asked, with kindness in his voice.

"Uh, yeah," he answered.

"Tell your dad to meet me up here at sunset," he told him.

"Ok," was Naruto's only response.

"Oh, and by the way, Naruto, you can do anything, as long as your heart is in it, believe it," with that the man disappeared.

"Who was that Naruto," his mom asked as she landed on the roof.

"A nice wierdo who wanted to talk to dad," he simply replied.

Kushina and Naruto walked to Minato's office. When they opened the door they found him talking to some Jonin including Rin, Obito, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai. They were discussing a possible rogue shinobi who had escaped their custody.

"Minato what's going on," Kushina asked. Minato turned to her and told her that they were looking for a shinobi with silver hair and a mask over his face. Once Minato had finished discussing the situation Naruto spoke up. "I saw him, he was nice," Naruto said ignorant of what was going on.

"Naruto, what did he say to you?" Minato asked his son.

"He said I could do anything if I really try," Naruto told him. After hearing this Minato let out a sigh, but then, "Oh yeah, he said he wanted to talk to you at sunset on the roof."

After hearing this the tension in the room thickened to the point where not even a saw could cut it. "Very well, you're all to meet back here at sunset, dismissed," at the order the jonin filed out the door. At this point Minato changed back into his relaxed self to enjoy his lunch with his family.

o-(=--

 _You're making a habit out of this_ , Rin thought to herself. She was at the graveyard at Kakashi's grave. She decided to tell him about her day, so she sat there telling him everything that had happened at the Chunin exams and through the morning. She rambled on until Obito arrived with Anko around his arm. Rin liked them together, with both of them having been manipulated, one by Orochimaru and the other by a "strange old dude", they helped each other through the hard times, and helped each other learn to trust people again.

"Rin, you're making a habit out of this," Obito told her.

"Yeah, Rin, come on, let's go eat somewhere, our treat," Anko suggested.

"Yeah, alright," she started standing up until she noticed a figure lurking in the shadows. Rin dashed over to the spot only to find nothing there.

"Rin, what was that about?" Obito asked her giving her a confused look.

"I thought I saw something over here," she told him. Looking at the grave she was at she noticed it was Sakumo Hatake's grave. The dust was gone and a single flower was placed in front of it. Shaking her head, she turned to the couple, "It's nothing let's go eat."

o-(=--

Sunset had arrived. Minato walked to the roof with Rin, Obito, Asuma, Guy, Kurenai, and Anko. The shinobi was already waiting with the only difference being his headband was covering his left eye. He appeared as though he was trying to break a genjutsu when they arrived. "So, not a dream then," he spoke aloud, "Glad you decided to see me," he said in a laid back tone.

"How did you know my comrades names?" Guy shouted energetically as always.

"You saw my headband, right?" the man teased.

"You seem less stressed than the other day, young man, but doctors should still be looking after you," Minato told him calmly.

"I don't need doctors," the man said in a serious tone, his visible eye narrowing, before he returned to his laid back attitude, "Besides they would probably just want to dissect me to see how I had the power to defeat a Jinchuriki."

"What was that anyways?" Obito asked, "I've had this sharingan for years and I've never been able to do anything like that."

"Leave it alone," the shinobi's serious voice returning, "Also, secrets are meant to be kept, just ask your clan," he stated nonchalantly.

"How do you know so much about this village?" Asuma demanded.

"The same way I know that the village has two jinchuriki yet didn't use either to fight back against Shukaku, the same way I know that Hiruzen Sarutobi died in his fight with Minato Namikaze against Orochimaru," hearing this shocked all the jonin there. The visible eye locked on Minato, "That is why I'm here, you didn't want to have his funeral until you knew that the village was safe, which is why you didn't tell anyone either. I respected Lord Third which is why I will leave the village until after you hold his funeral."

"A man full of such honor, I'm moved!" Guy exclaimed with tears sparkling in his eyes.

"Still doesn't answer the big question, who are you?" Anko demanded.

Kurenai was the next to speak, "We need to decide soon out of respect for Lord Third and Asuma, we must hold his funeral soon."

"Rin, you've been awfully quiet, what are you thinking?" Minato asked his former student.

Rin took a step forward and reached out a hand for the shinobi.

"Ka-Kakashi,"

Everyone stopped at what Rin had said. When she called out the name to the shinobi his cool demeanor melted away and his eye widened in, was it shock, horror, or both?

"Why didn't we see it sooner, the hair, the mask, the scar you're hiding beneath your headband," Rin explained, as tears started to form in her eyes, "And of course, your Chidori."

As if on cue, his hand started bursting with chakra, like lightning. Gone was the calm and cool ninja that had started the conversation, now his eye was filled with fear. Now holding his hand, the shinobi appeared to be trying to control the bursting chakra. His eye slowly turning red as the sharingan appeared.

"I-I should go," he started, walking towards the edge of the roof, pace quickening the closer he got.

"Kakashi, stop," Minato shouted to him. This made him hesitate giving the hidden leaf shinobi enough time to corner him on the edge of the roof. Obito launched his fireball jutsu at him. As it happened Kakashi's sharingan changed and the fire ball went through him. Blood started to drip from his eye.

"Kakashi, stop," Rin pleaded, "You're not fully recovered!"

Even with limited space Kakashi gracefully dodged the barrage of kunai thrown at him, but Minato was too fast, Kakashi wouldn't be able to dodge his kunai. He had one option, his sharingan swirled as the space around the kunai started to warp. His hand shot up to his eye and he grunted in pain, causing the warp to stop as the kunai hit its mark with deadly accuracy. The force knocked him back. He tried to get his footing, but there was no room as Kakashi tumbled over the railing and fell from the roof.

"Kakashi!" Rin screamed, she just got him back, she wasn't ready to lose him again. Running to the edge of the roof she looked down and saw Guy catch Kakashi just before he hit the ground.

"I'm not sure what's happening here, but we will get to the bottom of it later, right now Lord Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, deserves to get his proper burial," Minato told the shinobi, "You should all go home and get some sleep, you'll need it for the coming days". In all honesty, Minato wasn't even sure he was ready for what was to come.


	3. Memories

**A/N:**

So, I've been procrastinating recently, doing more reading than writing. Now I'm officially back to work on this story, 4 chapters ahead and counting.

o-(=--

Rin didn't get much sleep that night. The tears ran down her cheeks to the purple marks she still had on them. It was tearing her apart. First he saves the village, but almost attacks them, then he disappears only to reappear later that day, and finally, when she tried to talk to him he freaked out. He looked almost scared of her when she approached him. She didn't understand why he was scared of her, that is what was hurting her the most.

Almost everyone cried at the funeral for Lord Third. The sorrowful day was made worse when she learned that she wouldn't be allowed to see Kakashi until they began interrogation. The hard part was waiting for the interrogation. She spent the day with Obito, Minato, and Kushina.

"So you really think it's him?" Kushina asked her.

"It has to be, it's the only thing that makes sense," Rin told her.

"Thinking about it now, he does look alot like Kakashi," Obito said, "I don't know how I didn't see it sooner."

"I don't think he wanted you to see it," Minato told them.

"I really want to know how he got a second sharingan," Obito admitted.

"I'm just glad he's alive," Rin said, with a smile on her face, wider than they had seen in years.

"We don't know that it's him yet," Minato tried to warn them, but he relented, "But it's probably a safe bet."

They approached Ichiraku's where they were going to meet Obito's team for lunch. When they got their Minato saw a shinobi leaving from the corner of his eye. When he turned to look the shinobi was gone. Looking back he saw Obito's team walking up the path.

"Dad!" Naruto shouted.

"Obito-Sensei," Sasuke and Sakura greeted their teacher formally.

"Lord Fourth," Sasuke started.

"Just Minato is fine," Minato told him.

"Minato, Obito-Sensei, there's something we've been meaning to ask you," Sasuke admitted.

"Who was the person that stopped Gaara?" Sakura asked, straight to the point.

"Yeah! They say he was really cool, I heard that he was huge, and all blue, and made of lightning," Naruto described excited.

Rin opened her mouth to tell them, but Minato shook his head and told the team, grinning, "We'll tell you once we find him". This seemed to satisfy the genin as they returned to happily eating their ramen.

After eating their meal Minato pulled Teuchi to the side and asked him about the customer who left before they arrived.

"Nice man, funny looking fellow, but he tips well so I'm not complaining," Teuchi answered with a grin.

"Good to know," Minato said through an equally large grin.

o-(=--

It was night when the ninja took him to the interrogation room. When he got there he recognized the faces of Obito, Minato, Rin, Guy, Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko. He also saw Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's dad, there to use his jutsu to read Kakashi's memories. Plenty of other intelligence officials were there as well. They took him over and placed him in a chair.

"You know, you should tighten these restraints," Kakashi joked, "You never know what dangerous things I might have in my head."

"We will begin, activate the genjutsu," Minato ordered.

"No, you can't use a genjutsu," Kakashi pleaded, his laid-back demeanor abandoned for an urgent one, "There are things I don't want to see again!"

"I'm sorry," Minato apologized, "But this is the only way we can know the truth for sure without you blocking us."

With that Kakashi was put to sleep. "You May begin," Minato told Inoichi.

"I should be able to show you telepathically what I will see," Inoichi stated, "Gather 'round."

Once they did Inoichi started showing them Kakashi's memories. _It started with a stormy night and a dead body_. At the image of Kakashi's father, dead on the ground, a single tear rolled down the sleeping Kakashi's face. The memories continued, _ones of the academy, team Minato, and then the mission to destroy Kannabi Bridge. Everyone got to see the scene of Obito, half crushed and dying. They saw Rin transfer Obito's sharingan to Kakashi._ At this the sleeping Kakashi started to call out for Obito. _Things progressed as they remembered them, until the day Kakashi died._

 _The rain was coming down as it had. Rin was begging Kakashi to kill her_ , not one of her finest moments she knew, _yet Kakashi refused like he had. He used his Chidori to cut through enemy shinobi at blinding speed, until a blur crossed his path._ As this happened the sleeping Kakashi's hand started glowing, forming his lightning blade.

The memory cleared up. _He was staring at Rin with his arm going through her chest_. Everyone stood shocked at this, no one had anything to say. Kakashi was no longer asleep, with his right eye closed, a red glow was coming from where his headband covered his other eye. The sound of his lightning blade was almost deafening. The memories started blurring, only showing them Kakashi with images flying by.

"We have to stop this," Rin told Obito.

"Lord Hokage this is too much, even for Kakashi's youthful spirit," Guy exclaimed.

"Inoichi?" Minato asked.

"We've come too far to stop now,"

The images continued flowing. _People walked by calling him Friend Killer Kakashi. Then Kakashi was avoiding everyone, even those who saw themselves as his friends. The world swirled and Minato was putting him on the Anbu. Scenes started flashing before them, images of Kakashi ruthlessly beating and slaughtering shinobi while wearing his Anbu mask_. Some, including Obito, threw up at the sight.

Kakashi was still writhing in the chair and the glow from his headband was getting brighter. _The images cleared up once more to the sight of the Nine-Tails attacking the village. Kakashi was being held back from helping his sensei. It all ended with Minato and Kushina dead and a young blonde boy with the Kyuubi sealed inside of him_. Kakashi was now screaming from his spot in the chair. _It all focused on a man trying to steal his sharingan. Kakashi was telling him friendship was more important than any mission. The man, Kinoe, accused Kakashi of breaking this rule when he killed Rin._

It all happened in a flash. One second the room was calm, the next Inoichi was slammed into the wall by a giant blue skeletal arm. When they looked where the arm was coming from it led to Kakashi, now on his feet.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" He screamed. Immediately the shinobi took a fighting stance. The blue arm slowly disappeared, but Kakashi's sharingan stared at them filled with rage, sadness, and pain as blood and tears flowed from his one visible eye.

"Enough Kakashi," Minato ordered.

Kakashi let out a growl as the Shinobi rushed toward him. "KAMUI!" and with that Kakashi disappeared.


	4. Reforming

**A/N:** A little bit of world building here, Danzo still saw the Uchiha as a threat and Itachi still killed them, Obito was away on a mission so he wasn't killed. Obito awakened his Mangekyo when Kakashi died and got replacement Sharingan before the Uchiha were massacred, but has not transplanted them yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, (I also don't know if I need to keep saying that, but what the hell, why not?)

o-(=--

A man appeared in the middle of the training grounds clutching his right eye. He stood up. Looking around he didn't see anyone at the grounds. _Lucky for me_ , He thought to himself. The luck didn't last long though. "Damn, looks like I put too much energy into that," he chuckled to himself as he fell over, unconscious.

o-(=--

"Mister, hey mister," someone called out to him. Opening his eye Kakashi looked toward the noise to see three kids staring at him. "Are you alright sir?" the girl asked him.

"I'm fine, thanks," he told them.

"Hey, I know you," Naruto said, "You're that guy from the roof yesterday."

"You've got me there," Kakashi admitted.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the day?" Sasuke questioned.

"I went for a walk and fell asleep on the grass here," he lied.

"Mister, why is there blood on your face?" Sakura asked, worry etched in her features.

"What?" he walked to the stream and looked at his reflection. Sure enough, there were trails of dried blood under his eyes. Once he washed it off he turned back to the kids. "Sorry, rough night."

"What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"You can call me," he took a minute to think it over before answering, "Kakashi."

o-(=--

When the ninja reconvened they had searched the entire village, yet there was no sign of Kakashi. It was like he disappeared from the village entirely. "We can't spend all day looking for him," Minato admitted, "Return to your teams and we'll continue searching tomorrow."

"But Minato-Sensei," Rin tried.

"Rin you should go with Obito, I'm going to try to make sense of what we saw in the interrogation room," Minato told her.

o-(=--

When they got to the training fields the team was training harder than ever. Sasuke and Naruto switched back and forth from sparring to practicing the techniques Obito had taught them. Sakura was working non-stop on her chakra control. There were scattered kunai and a few shurikens sticking out of targets and the ground.

"What's happening here?" Obito asked them.

"Obito-Sensei," the three ninja shouted excitedly.

"The Hokage thought I should bring Rin and continue your training, but it seems like training never stopped," Obito chuckled, "How about we go for some ramen for your hard work instead?"

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted.

On the way to Ichiraku's team 7 talked about how much stronger they have gotten and plan on getting. Sasuke was still unhappy with his strength. Naruto was progressing nicely, training with Jiraiya had done him good. "So why were you training so hard?" Obito asked his students.

"Some guy was just sleeping in the middle of the place so we woke him up," Naruto started, "He asked how our training was coming along so we thought we'd show him what we could do. He was impressed, but said something about needing to push our limits, so I said, 'what makes you think you can judge us?', then, pow! He cut the leaves off a tree without breaking a single branch. It was AWESOME! He was just as cool as dad, or Pervy Sage."

"What about me?" Obito whined.

"Oh yeah, you too, Obito-Sensei, I guess." Naruto added.

"We're still not strong enough," Sasuke complained. "He could do that and I couldn't even follow his movements with my sharingan. I need to find that guy again, I need to learn that jutsu he used."

"Quit calling him 'that guy'," Sakura told Naruto while she punched him.

"Sasuke did it too," Naruto tried explaining.

"He gave us his name so why are you calling him 'that guy'?" Sakura sighed.

Rin was just about to ask who the man was but Naruto's excited, "We're here!" stopped her from asking. They sat down and ordered their meal. Naruto started telling Teuchi about his day, Sakura was asking Rin about medical ninjutsu, and Sasuke was asking Obito when they could start training again. The conversation took a lighter tone when the Jonin told the genin how proud and impressed they were of their performance in the Chunin exams before the abrupt interruption. As they continued chatting another person sat down at the shop.

"Hey it's you!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, not so loud," Rin scolded. They didn't seem to notice the new customer who had arrived.

"Sorry, hey mister, how are ya?" Naruto greeted politely.

"I have a name you know," he told Naruto, chuckling to himself. At this Sakura looked over.

"Nice to see you again, Kakashi," Sakura greeted him. This got all of their attention. Turning to look at the customer Rin stared at him for a minute.

"K-Ka-Kakashi?" Rin looked to Kakashi sitting in the corner of the shop.

"Yo," he waved.

"Miss Rin are you okay?" Sakura worried.

"Kakashi," Rin ran over to him, with tears in her eyes, and hugged him, not letting go, "You're here."

"Hey Obito-Sensei, how does miss Rin know Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

This forced Obito to come up with a lie to tell his team. "Kakashi was our teammate from the old team 7. He was sent on a mission before you all were born. I'm glad he's finally back," Obito explained. With a believable excuse out of the way Obito stepped out of the shop, "I'll be right back". With that he dashed to the Hokage's office.

Rin stepped back from Kakashi with a light blush on her cheeks. With the opportunity to talk to him, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke crowded around him asking him to teach them a few of his tricks. "I'll show you a few tomorrow," he told them, "Right now, I'm still tired from the mission so I'm going to eat my ramen and sleep in". The kids seemed a little let down at this. "Don't worry, I'll buy you all another bowl before I go".

They all seemed distracted by Teuchi cooking his specialty ramen for them. At that moment Naruto realized something, "Hey mister," Naruto looked over at Kakashi, "How do you eat while wear- Wooaah!" The entire bowl of ramen Kakashi had had disappeared leaving only the bowl and Kakashi looking like nothing happened. "How'd ya do that?!" Kakashi just sat there laughing to himself.

o-(=--

Rin was surprised. The Kakashi she saw at Ichiraku's was completely different from the one from the interrogation room, he was happy and always kind to the genin. The one from the interrogation was angry, scary, and overall, hurt. The meal was over too quickly. Rin soon found herself watching the genin walk down the road to go to their homes, leaving her alone with Kakashi, walking toward the forest.

"Rin," Kakashi spoke in a serious tone, "Did I hurt anyone yesterday?"

"No," Kakashi looked relieved, "But what happened to you in there?"

"You saw something neither of us wanted to," Kakashi looked into the trees, "You hear me! You shouldn't have seen that! I didn't want to see that again!"

As if on cue Obito, Minato, Anko, Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma dropped out of the trees. "For being ninja, you guys are pretty bad at hiding," Kakashi joked.

"Kakashi, what did we see yesterday?" Obito asked him.

"Minato-Sensei knows the answer, even if he hasn't told you, don't you Hokage," Kakashi stated more than asked.

The shinobi looked at Minato waiting on his answer. "It's been confirmed that those were his real memories," Minato told them, unable to meet their eyes. The shinobi who had circled Kakashi looked more shocked than they had when they first saw the memories.

"Rin, get away from him," Obito yelled.

"Why should I?" Rin challenged.

"He has memories of killing you, he's dangerous," Asuma tried to reason.

"He's still Kakashi," Rin stated, "He's still our friend!"

The shinobi, except Minato, took a fighting stance ready to strike at the first sign of ill intent. Kakashi took a step back ready to run. When he did, Asuma launched himself at Kakashi ready to strike with his chakra blades. Before they hit Kakashi a blur intercepted them, knocking Asuma back a step.

"Rin is right!" Guy shouted, "He's still Kakashi and that means he's still my rival, so I'm sure there is a perfectly good reason for all of this."

"Damn it, Rin! Why do you have to be right all the time?" Obito yelled while blocking a strike from Kurenai aimed at Kakashi.

The mission quickly got out of hand. The team was split in half. They were now fighting each other while trying not to hurt their comrades. Kakashi wasn't sure whether to turn himself over to Anko, Asuma, and Kurenai to stop the fight before someone got seriously hurt, or jump in to help the people who still trusted him. Before Kakashi could make a decision the fight abruptly ended when Minato shouted "Enough!"

At this the battlefield went silent, everyone stopped in their tracks. "Kakashi, welcome back to the Hidden Leaf Village, we probably won't understand what's happening for a while so it'll be nice to have you around again," Minato said, sporting a grin almost too large for his face, "Everyone, let's go to my office. Kakashi can explain everything there," with that Minato teleported away.

Hearing this Kakashi visibly relaxed. "Thanks for having my back, you don't know how much that means to me," Kakashi thanked Obito, Rin, and Guy. He then turned to Anko, Asuma, and Kurenai, "Don't worry, I won't hold this against you," Kakashi turned his back to walk toward the Hokage mansion.

"Kakashi," Rin called, "You're a part of team Minato, we'll always have your back." Kakashi looked to Obito who nodded in agreement. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"Well, come on then, we better get to Minato-Sensei's office before he gets mad," Kakashi told them before turning back to Guy, "Guy, are you coming or are you just going to stand there all day?"

"Yes, onward to the Hokage's office," He shouted. With the sun setting, they walked down the road together to the Hokage's mansion. Looking at Kakashi they could all tell he was happy. If Kakashi wasn't wearing a mask they'd all see that he had a smile on his face larger than he has ever had before.


	5. A New Normal

**A/N: So, I've been listening to the Naruto soundtracks recently and somehow it gave me some great ideas for how this story should end so I wrote them down. Now I have the final chapter done and I'm really proud of it, but I'm still having trouble with the middle chapters, so I'll give you a choice, if five people comment saying they want to see the final chapter I'll upload it as a separate story and put it here when this story gets to the end. If five people comment saying they want to be surprised I'll wait until the end to upload it**.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters.**

o-(=--

After Kakashi had explained his memories, they were all shocked. The pain of what he had gone through was almost more than what all of the shinobi there had gone through combined. He tried to avoid explaining what had happened to Rin in his memories, but that was what they had all wanted to know about.

"It was dark, she kept saying she was dangerous, but I had to keep my promise to Obito. I had my sharingan active, but I didn't see it coming, she just ran in the way of my lightning blade. It was too fast, I couldn't stop it, I should've been able to stop it," Kakashi told them. A single tear fell from his eye.

"It's okay, Kakashi," Rin told him as she walked over and held him in her arms, "You couldn't have done anything, but that doesn't matter anymore because I'm right here."

"You did the best you could," Obito told him.

"Do we know why Kakashi has these memories?" Asuma asked Minato.

"We know the events he remembers actually happened, we're just not sure how it's possible," Minato admitted.

"Kakashi, do you remember how you got here?" Anko asked him.

"No, I just woke up out there with Shukaku attacking the village," he told them.

"So how did you know of our two jinchuriki?" Kurenai asked.

"I already knew Kushina was one, as for Rin, that's just because Obito is loud," Kakashi chuckled, Obito turning a little red at the statement.

"Kakashi's right Obito," Minato told him, "That's why I didn't put you on the Anbu."

They finished talking about Kakashi's memories and started joking like they normally would. Kakashi appreciated the calm in this situation. Once people started leaving to return to their genin teams, Kakashi pulled Minato aside.

"Has Kushina taught Rin how to control the Three-tails yet?" Kakashi asked him.

"No, Rin has been avoiding it," Minato admitted.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Kakashi told his former sensei, "By the way sensei, I think that it's been long enough, I'd like to go on a mission soon, if you don't mind."

"I'll consider it, but for now, see if you can help Rin, she's missed you you know," Minato said with a smirk.

o-(=--

"Kakashi, wait up," Rin called from behind him. Turning to look he saw Rin running up to him with a smile on her face.

"Shouldn't you be training with Kushina, Rin?" Kakashi mentioned.

"Yeah, but that's boring, I'd rather spend the day with you," she admitted to him, with a blush on her cheeks.

"Rin, you need to learn how to control the Three-tails before it destroys you," Kakashi warned.

The smile slipped from her face, a look of fear replacing it. "Yeah, but what if I lose control and hurt someone?" She practically whispered.

"How about this, I'll go with you," He offered, "If you lose control, I'll make sure you don't hurt anyone. You saw how I handled Gaara, I'll make sure that no one gets hurt, not even you, trust me."

"Ok," Rin ran up and hugged Kakashi, "Thank you, Kakashi. I don't know what I'd do if anyone got hurt because of me."

"Let's go," he said taking her hand. "Kushina won't wait forever you know," He joked as he took off for the training fields, almost dragging Rin behind him.

o-(=--

Kushina saw two figures approaching the field. The first one was Rin laughing with the shinobi to her left.

"So, you finally decided to show up," Kushina remarked, "Who'd you bring with you?"

"So Minato-Sensei didn't tell you?" Rin said, surprised, "This is Kakashi."

Turning to look at the man, Kushina saw that he looked just like Kakashi only older and taller. "I heard you were back, welcome home, Kakashi," She greeted with a motherly smile on her face.

"That's not the reaction I usually get, thank you," Kakashi said to her. He moved off toward the tree laying beneath one as the two women began training.

"There's something I need you to know, Rin," Kushina admitted, "There is no real way to control a tailed-beast. The best you can do is stop its hate from controlling you. The best way you can do that is with love."

"There's no way to control it?" Rin asked worried.

"Unfortunately," Kushina confirmed, not helping Rin calm down, "You have to stop it from escaping. It's hard, but you have to stop it. The Nine-Tails feels weaker now, but it's fighting harder than ever to get out."

"I can't control it? I can't control it. I can't control it!" Rin was holding her head starting to scream. Red chakra started flowing around Rin.

"Rin!" Kushina yelled. Immediately Kakashi was standing in between Kushina and Rin. Kakashi couldn't see Rin through the chakra and there were two tails sprouting from the form. It roared and charged at Kakashi. He blocked with his kunai throwing the form back a few feet.

"Isobu!" Kakashi called out. The red form seemed to stop and stare at Kakashi. Kushina was taken aback by the hesitation Kakashi caused in the beast. "I know you don't realize it yet, but that shinobi is a worthy jinchuriki, even if she's not ready yet, so until she is I'll have to keep you in line."

The beast roared and charged at Kakashi again. Kakashi's lightning blade burst to life from his right hand as he charged to meet the red beast running at him. Kushina was running towards them when they collided. The collision caused an explosion of red and blue light, temporarily blinding anyone in the area and had enough force to knock down the closest trees.

o-(=--

When Minato and team Obito arrived The first thing they saw was Kushina looking on in shock at the sight before them. Next was Rin, on her knees, with a confused expression on her face. Last was Kakashi, standing in a stance indicating that he had used his lightning blade, he had cuts and burns in his Jonin uniform in various places. Breathing heavily, Kakashi started to sway and fall.

"Kakashi," Obito yelled running over to catch his friend.

Hearing this, Rin turned to look at her friend. Seeing his condition, she repeated Obito's worried yell, crawling over to use her healing jutsu on Kakashi. Minato ran over to his wife. "Kushina, are you okay, what happened?" Minato asked.

"Rin … lost control … Kakashi … it stopped," Kushina spoke through deep breaths.

"Kakashi! Stay with us, please!" Rin begged him.

"Rin," Kakashi weakly called.

"Yes?" she said, trying and failing to stay calm.

"You won't have to worry about the Three-Tails for a while," Kakashi told her, his eye showed the smile his mask was hiding.

"What?" before she could get an answer Kakashi passed out.

"Rin, we can't do anything if he's asleep, let's take him back and make sure he's okay," Minato told his former student.

Rin took Kakashi to the hospital and didn't leave his side even after she had fallen asleep.


	6. Bed Rest

**A/N:** **Just so you know, the next two chapters will contain fluff and just a tiny bit of plot. If you don't understand it yet, good, you shouldn't. So just 2 chapters then back to beating things up.**

o-(=--

When he woke up he found himself back in the hospital. _Damn_ , he thought to himself, _Why am I always ending up here?_ He sat up and looked around seeing the sterile white color of the room. _I can't stay, I have to figure out what's going on._ He started to get up until he felt something holding him back. Kakashi looked over to find Rin, asleep, sitting by his bedside and holding his arm. She appeared to have used her medical ninjutsu on his arm. It looked as though she'd been there all night.

"Not a scratch," he whispered aloud, looking over Rin's sleeping form, checking for injuries. "That's good," He sighed. Getting up he headed for the window, "I'm sorry for worrying you Rin, but there's something I need to check." Kakashi opened the window, jumping out into the cool morning air.

He made his way toward the training ground where Rin had trained with Kushina. There, as he expected, he found Naruto looking at the scorched earth where Kakashi had used his lightning blade on an out of control Rin. He approached Naruto only able to see his back. The usually talkative boy was completely silent as Kakashi approached.

"It's you, isn't it, Kurama,"

o-(=--

When Rin awoke she was cold. Opening her eyes, she saw Kakashi had disappeared again. Stunned she bolted up and looked around the room. Still not finding him, she ran out of the room and down the hall. As she was leaving the hospital she saw Minato and Obito walking toward her.

"Rin, what's happening?" Minato asked.

"Kakashi's gone," she hurriedly replied.

"Are you kidding me? That bastard can't stay put can he," Obito growled.

"Come on, we have to find him," Rin told them.

They took off searching around the village, through the graveyard, then to the training fields where they found him. He was laying on his back, hands behind his head. He appeared to be asleep, resting on the grass, in the shade of a nearby tree. Rin approached the sleeping shinobi as quietly as she could. She'd give him a painful wake up call for scaring her like that.

"You shouldn't sneak up on a sleeping ninja," looking down Rin saw Kakashi's eye open as he withdrew his kunai which was just inches from her stomach, "People could get hurt, you know?"

Flustered and embarrassed at her lack of awareness, Rin stumbled and fell backward to the ground. "What the hell, Kakashi?!" Obito yelled at him, "You scared the hell out of us!"

"What, I thought shinobi were supposed to be ready for anything, you're telling me a little joke like that scared you?" Kakashi laughed.

"Kakashi, you had us worried," Rin told him, eyes tearing up, "You had me worried."

"I'm sorry Rin," Kakashi apologized, walking over to her, his one visible eye looking down at the ground, "It won't happen again." He reached down and helped her up off the ground.

"You're right Kakashi," Minato told him, "Because, as Hokage, I'm ordering you 24 hours of rest because I need you in top shape for your next mission and, since you don't seem to want to sit still, I'm going to have Rin look after you to make sure you actually rest."

"You wouldn't dare," Kakashi challenged.

"I just did, take good care of him Rin," Minato said, smirking and giving them a wave as he took off for the Hokage's estate.

"Serves you right Kakashi," Obito laughed, "Good luck with him Rin, I'll stop by later with my team," Kakashi looked mortified by this point, "Oh, and I'll tell some of our old classmates about this and see if they can help you too."

With that, Obito left leaving Rin alone with Kakashi. "Well, let's head over to your old place, no one's moved in since you… um… yeah, and none of us had the heart to take your stuff out," Rin admitted shyly.

"I see," Kakashi answered grimly, "Well then, let's go," he continued with a lighter tone.

They arrived at his place a short while later. Opening the door he saw all of his stuff exactly as he had remembered. Quickly, he headed toward the window. He was immediately pulled back, rather forcefully, from the window. Landing with a grunt, he heard Rin giggling as she told him, "Minato said you need rest, Kakashi."

"I was only going to go get some food, Rin," he said, "Since no one has lived here in awhile, I doubt there's anything to eat in here."

"Well then, I guess I'll have to get you something then," Rin told him.

"Don't worry about it, I'll survive," Kakashi stated. Rin was sure he could survive for weeks without food, but she was supposed to look after him and she would force him to eat if she had to. So, after a long few minutes, Rin finally got him to tell her what he wanted so she waited for Asuma and his team to show up before leaving to get it. Asuma arrived with his three genin close behind they exchanged pleasantries before Rin quickly walked out the door leaving Kakashi with the guests.

"So, Kakashi, this is Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara, they may not look like much, but they are some of the best genin a sensei could ask for," Asuma said with pride.

"Sensei, you could have been nicer about that," Ino complained.

"Why did you bring us here sensei, this is such a drag," Shikamaru complained.

"Hey, don't be like that, this guy is a hero, he's saved my life on more than one occasion," Asuma told them, "This is the man who has Obito's other eye, Kakashi Hatake."

"You mean the war hero! Didn't he die?" Choji asked his sensei, clutching his potato chips, obviously amazed.

"Yeah, well, turns out he's not dead," Asuma stated plainly. All of the genin looked at him in amazement, including Shikamaru.

"Seriously!? That's amazing!" Ino shouted, "I'm Ino, nice to meet you sir."

"Just Kakashi is fine," he told them. After greeting them, Kakashi told them a few war stories and shared a few laughs with Asuma about Asuma's stories of trying to train his team. Kakashi gave the genin some pointers on how they could improve their skills. "Just remember, if you trust your teammates you will always succeed," he said to them before they left.

Rin returned a few minutes later with their food and enough to stock his kitchen for a few weeks. When she got back she found Kakashi walking around with Obito's sharingan uncovered. "What are you doing?! You shouldn't be using that eye, go lay in bed and get some rest," she scolded.

"How can I eat if I'm in bed," he questioned her, "Are you planning on feeding me?"

A blush covered her entire face as she opened her mouth trying and failing to respond. Her reaction amused Kakashi, forcing him to suppress his laughter to try not to embarrass Rin even more. He watched as Rin took him a plate of food sitting down next to him. With chopsticks in hand, and a blush still covering her cheeks, Rin was about to start feeding him.

"Relax Rin, it's only a joke," he told her calmly. She gingerly handed Kakashi the plate. She left to go get her plate from the table. Once she returned they ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Rin," Kakashi began.

"Yes?"

"This is real, right?"

Rin looked at him for a minute or two pondering what he had asked. "I hope so," she replied giving him a kind smile. Kakashi relaxed immediately, his eye revealing his calm smile. The two returned to their meals in comfortable silence.

"Rin, thank you."


	7. Recuperation

**A/N:**

So I might not be able to update this for a week or two, going on vacation and I might not be able to use the internet, if I'm lucky this shouldn't change my schedule, but if it does I'll do a double upload for you guys next time. Also next time should get back to some action.

I'd also like to thank Prescripto13 for the comments. You really understand what I'm doing with this story so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

o-(=--

Kakashi awoke to the sound of voices in the other room. He could tell from the eccentric voice he was hearing that it was Guy and his students. He got out of bed slowly and walked to the door. Entering the other room he saw Rin on the couch talking with Guy while his students were switching between their own conversation and their sensei's.

"My eternal rival, you're awake," Guy shouted.

"Yo," Kakashi responded.

"So, Guy-sensei, this is the man who you chose as your rival, he looks so cool!" Lee exclaimed.

"Kakashi, your headband," Rin worried.

"Oh, right," Kakashi started to turn around before noticing most of the genin staring at him.

"Is that Obito-Sensei's eye?" Tenten asked.

"Yes, it is," he told her.

"How can you even use it?" Neji asked, "The stress should be killing you."

"Maybe," Kakashi said, "But I believe that if it was going to kill me I'd already be dead."

Kakashi left to retrieve his headband lazily putting it over his left eye. After he returned Guy introduced him to his students and they discussed the village's affairs since Kakashi died. They left shortly after with Kakashi promising Guy another match for their rivalry. An hour later Kurenai arrived with her students. "Kakashi, this is Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga," she introduced.

"Hello," they all greeted.

"A Hyuuga heiress, an Inuzuka, and an Aburame, impressive, must be a handful," Kakashi said.

"They are, but I don't mind," Kurenai admitted.

"I see, this year's genin have quite a bit of potential," Kakashi spoke, analyzing the genin team, "But they still have a ways to go before they can actually use it."

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, but we must be going, we have a mission and we can't be late," Kurenai told him.

"A mission? So soon after the attack?" Rin asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, the truth is, the world still needs shinobi even if they are still recovering," Shino spoke.

"Rin," Kurenai called as they were leaving, "Good luck with him," she said with a wink.

Rin's face went red and she had to hide it as she returned to the couch, facing away from Kakashi. Eventually Obito stopped by in the evening bringing food. _If this is what recovery is like I should have gotten beat up more when I was younger,_ Kakashi thought to himself. It was then that Kakashi remembered that he beat himself up plenty when he trained as a kid, he just never let anyone take care of him because of it. _I was such an idiot, he thought to himself._

He took some time to look over his comrades and how much they had changed. Obito was as tall as he remembered, the almost swirl-like scars on the right side of his face was there, but was less noticeable, probably due to being able to be taken care of rather than being kept in a cave with Madara. Obito wore navy pants with a navy long sleeved shirt, which probably had an Uchiha clan symbol on the back, covered by a flak Jonin vest.

Rin had grown up since Kakashi remembered killing her. She had gotten taller, she still wore a similar outfit other than the flak vest that she wore only when she had a mission. She had matured, her figure had filled out making her quite beautiful, Kakashi was honestly surprised that no one had hit on her while they were out, although Kakashi would have ended them if they did. If anything the purple marks on her cheeks just made her beauty stand out more, not that Kakashi was checking.

Rin and Obito chatted happily about the genin and their advancements. Obito also mentioned Minato had stepped down as Hokage so he could go on more missions investigating the Akatsuki. They talked about their upcoming mission to escort a runner on a race for the Wasabi family. Kakashi overheard this and his mind immediately kicked into high gear. _So their already going on this mission, I didn't even notice Naruto and Jiraiya had gotten Tsunade already,_ Kakashi thought, _so Sasuke is going to leave soon,_ a slight frown crossed his face beneath his mask, _oh well, somethings can't be changed._

"Kakashi," Rin called, breaking him from his thoughts, "You've been pretty quiet, care to tell us about it?"

"It's nothing," Kakashi told them, "I was just thinking about the last time we all were together like this."

"It's been a while, hasn't it," Obito said, "But that's not all that's on your mind, something is troubling you, we all saw your memories. What's wrong."

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi restated.

"No, we let you do this before, we need to talk about this," Rin told him. Kakashi gave a soft glare toward Rin, because how was he supposed to be angry with her when she was genuinely worried about him, and she was giving him that face.

"I have an idea," Obito declared, "We each take turns talking about one of our memories."

"That's a great idea Obito," Rin cheerfully exclaimed, "I'll start." Rin told them about when she was a child and used to go to pick strawberries with her family in a nearby garden. She told them of the animals that she used to play with there.

"Okay, that makes a lot of sense actually," Obito said, "I'll go next." Obito's story consisted of many tales of his heroics helping the old ladies in the village.

"Really, Obito, I've heard these stories every day since I met you," Rin teased.

"Oh, right," he laughed, "Okay, I've got a better one, it was a week after I got back to the village, I was having trouble fitting in again, I went out in the village alone, in the middle of the night, it was quiet and I needed time to think, but then Anko found me, she helped me fit in, she made me feel less alone." After an "awww" from Rin and about a minute of Obito staring off into nothing, Obito turned to Kakashi, "Well, what about you Kakashi?"

"Oh, um, my life hasn't been as happy as yours," Kakashi told them, "I'll just depress you guys."

"Rules are rules, Kakashi tell us," Rin said.

"Fine," Kakashi relented, "I'll tell you anything you want to know, so what do you want to know?"

"Tell us what happened to Minato-Sensei, we saw, but I think there's more to it," Obito said.

"It was all planned by a man calling himself Madara, he set it up, released the Nine-Tails, it was all because of him," Kakashi told them, withholding the part about Obito for obvious reasons.

"So, did you ever catch the guy?" Rin asked.

"Yes," Kakashi said, a melancholic expression forming on his face, "But that's a story for another day."

The evening continued on pleasantly the three exchanging happier stories, or at least trying to in Kakashi's case. By the end of the day the three were laughing together as they joked and decided to play a few games, but eventually Obito had to leave. "Remember to rest up, we have a mission tomorrow," Obito told them.

"Really?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, straight from the Hokage, the three of us are going to take out a group of rogue nin who've been harassing some locals in a village on the other side of the land of fire," Obito told them.

"Okay, bye Obito," Kakashi said waving.

"See you guys tomorrow," He said leaving.

"Alright then, you should get some more rest before our mission tomorrow," Rin told Kakashi, "I think my job is pretty much done here, so I'll be going too."

"Rin wait," she turned around and Kakashi caught her and before she could say anything, he pulled down his mask and kissed her. It wasn't long or passionate, but for Rin it lasted forever. "Thank you Rin," and with that he disappeared back into his apartment. All Rin could think was that this was the happiest she'd been in years.


End file.
